Camp Ashraf is home to more than 3,400 members of the main Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), and has come under increasing inhumane pressures from the Iraqi government at the behest of the Iranian regime.
According to the Iraqi Va Jadid website on Wednesday, the Arab-Islamic committee in defense of Ashraf, which is chaired by former Algerian prime minister Sid Ahmad Ghozali, said in a statement, “What happened in Ashraf City was a crime against those who are considered protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention.”
On October 15, Iraqi forces attacked Ashraf residents, wounding 18 of them in the process. The attack came after another act of aggression which led to 10 injuries among the residents on October 1.
“Those who ordered this crime and those who carried it out must be put on trial,” the Arab-Islamic committee said in its statement condemning the actions of the government of Nouri Maliki against Ashraf residents.
It added, “The Arab-Islamic Committee in Defense of Ashraf calls for the establishment of US forces in Ashraf in accordance with an agreement that these forces signed with the residents stipulating an obligation to provide them protection. We also call on the UN to establish a permanent UNAMI monitoring team in the camp.”